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Hilo Highlights

The Hilo region is blessed with dramatic waterfalls, fertile rainforests and blooming gardens; the geographic flipside of the volcanic Kohala Coast. Home to Hilo International Airport, Hilo is also the gateway to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park located 45 minutes south.

Mauna Kea Observatory

The 4,200 meter high summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii houses the world's largest observatory for optical, infrared, and submillimeter astronomy.

Waipio Valley

Located on the northern Hamakua Coast, the sacred Waipio Valley was the boyhood home of King Kamehameha I, and an important center for political and religious life in Hawaii. Not only is "The Valley of the Kings" an important site for Hawaiian history and culture, it's also a place of dramatic tropical beauty.

Liliuokalani Gardens

Located on Hilo's Banyan Drive, this authentic, 30-acre Japanese garden was dedicated in 1917 as a tribute to Hawaii's first Japanese immigrants who worked in the Hawaii Island sugar cane fields.This beautifully landscaped park features arching red bridges over fishponds, rock gardens, pagodas, Japanese stone lanterns and a teahouse. Views of Hilo Bay and Moku Ola (Coconut Island) enhance this peaceful setting. With so much to see, this is a popular park for families to explore while they’re visiting the Hilo area.

Volcanoes National Park

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, on the "Big Island" of Hawai'i, offers the visitor a look at two of the world's most active volcanoes: Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.More than 4,000 feet high and still growing, Kīlauea abuts the southeastern slope of the older and much larger Mauna Loa, or "long mountain." Mauna Loa towers some 13,677 feet above the sea: Measured from its base 18,000 feet below sea level, it exceeds Mount Everest in height. Mauna Loa's gently sloping bulk—some 19,000 cubic miles in volume—makes it the planet's most massive single mountain.

Hawaiian Lava Hiking Trails 

The eruption of Kīlauea continues at two vents. One at the summit of Kīlauea within Halema‘uma‘u Crater and the other on the east rift zone, 10 miles east of the summit. Flowing lava is not accessible by foot or by car. No lava is flowing into or towards the ocean.

The World Botanical Garden

Botanical World Adventures is home to World Botanical Gardens, Maze and Waterfalls in Hakalau on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Botanical World Adventures also includes Zip Isle Zip Line and Segway Off Road Adventure Tours.

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